Sarah Palin Won’t “Shut Up”

In her first interview since the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, Sarah Palin fought back against critics who believed that the use of a graphic featuring crosshairs may have contributed to the shooter’s motivations.

From CNN:

“The graphic that was used was crosshairs. That’s not original. Democrats have been using them for years,” Palin said in the interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, where Palin is a paid contributor.

Meanwhile, when asked about speculation the recent controversies have disrupted any future political ambitions, Palin vowed she will continue to speak her mind.

“I am not ready to make an announcement about what my political future is going to be. But I will tell you … I am not going to sit down. I am not going to shut up,”she said.

Ted Stevens Believed to Be on Crashed Plane

Early this morning, a plane believed to be carrying eight people, including former Senator Ted Stevens, crashed in southwest Alaska. There is no word on any casualties at this time.

From the Associated Press:

Alaska National Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said there were possible fatalities. Five good Samaritans were on scene early Tuesday helping the crash victims, he said. It was unclear how they reached the site.

A U.S. government official told The Associated Press that Alaska authorities have been told the former longtime Republican senator is among several passengers on the plane. The official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, says Stevens’ condition is unknown.

The federal official declined to be publicly identified because the crash response and investigation are under way.

Sarah Palin “Feels Great” After Leaving Office

Sarah Palin gave her final speech as Alaska’s governor yesterday afternoon before stepping down from her job. Now the question remains, where does the former vice presidential candidate go from here? Senate? Vice President? President? Who knows?

From ABC News:

“I feel great,” she said. “It was a smooth transition of power as it should be, and a good advancement for the state.”

Palin leaves office with a pile of cash in her political action committee — more than a million dollars strong and growing rapidly since her decision to resign.

Following a farewell series of picnics across the state over the weekend, Palin leaves behind legions of confused supporters.

“It breaks my heart because we voted for her, we believe in her,” one supporter said. “She was honest, she was like a breath of fresh air.”

Analysts say she is now in uncharted political territory.

“She runs second in most of the public polls for 2012, so she’ll still very much be a factor as we go forward,” said Republican analyst Frank Donatelli.

From CNN:

“Now people who know me, they know how much I love this state … I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics-as-usual, lame-duck session in one’s last year in office,” Palin said, just moments before Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell was sworn in as governor.

“With this decision, now I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right and for the truth,” Palin continued. “And I have never felt you need a title to do that.”

Palin — interrupted briefly by a heckler — devoted much of her last address to a rundown of her accomplishments as governor, including winning legislative approval for a massive natural gas pipeline and governing “with fiscal restraint.”

“What I promised, we accomplished,” she told the mostly supportive crowd.

Where Does Sarah Palin Go From Here?

So, I go on vacation for a few days and come back to learn of quite a few major news stories, including the murder of Steve McNair and Sarah Palin resigning as Governor of Alaska. How do I miss these things?

The question now is: Where does Sarah Palin go from here? Is she going to hide away in obscurity? Will she run for President in 2012? Is there another scandal coming? Who knows!

From ABC News:

On many blogs this weekend, speculation ran rampant that a scandal is coming or that another shoe will drop.

But no evidence of anything more than rehashed rumors has appeared thus far.

After reports that she may have resigned because of a supposedly pending federal embezzlement investigation, her lawyers called such speculation false and warned in a letter to the media, “This is to provide notice … that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.”

In a rare move, the FBI issued a statement to say there was no ongoing investigation of Palin.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will take over the top state job later this month, said Palin is resigning because of the mounting legal costs the state of Alaska and she personally are incurring because of several ethics complaints filed against her during her term as governor. Even though the charges have been dismissed, she still has steep legal fees.

“What seemed to weigh heavily upon her was the cost associated with all the records request, ethics complaints, the cost of staff time, the distractions,” Parnell told ABC News. “We are up to $2 million in costs to Alaskan taxpayers for that and I think there was just that sense that that was a burden to moving Alaska forward.”

Palin’s political opponents like Alaska senator and fellow Republican Lisa Murkowski have criticized Palin’s unexpected decision.

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“I am deeply disappointed that the governor has decided to abandon the state and her constituents before her term has concluded,” Murkowski said.

Bristol Palin and Fiance Levi Johnston Call Off Engagement

A shocker in Alaska! 🙂

The engagement is off for the teenage daughter of Alaska Governor  Sarah Palin and the father of her baby, Levi Johnston.

From the Associated Press:

Levi Johnston told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he and Bristol Palin mutually decided “a while ago” to end their relationship. The 19-year-old Johnston declined to elaborate.

Eighteen-year-old Bristol Palin says in a statement to the AP that she is “devastated.”

The two are the parents of a boy named Tripp, who was born Dec. 27.

Sarah Palin revealed her daughter’s pregnancy days after being named John McCain’s running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.

In an interview that aired on Fox News last month, Bristol Palin said her fiance saw the baby every day and described him as a “hands-on” dad.

The two had said they were considering a summer wedding.

Sarah Palin Discusses Bloggers, Media and Her Mockery

Alaska Governor, and former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, sat down recently for an interview with Esquire magazine to discuss, among other things, bloggers and the media. A portion of of the interview can be found here.

I especially loved this quote: “Bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie annoy me.”

I’m glad that I just re-post news stories that I find of interest, rather than spending the time making up the lies she talks about. I leave that up to others 🙂 Ha!

In all reality, I think she may have been unfairly judged at times but some of the stories she brought on herself. I’m sure she enjoyed her fame and it will probably allow her to be a “name” in the Republican Party for years to come.

From CBS News:

“I’ll tell you, yesterday the Anchorage Daily News, they called again to ask — double-, triple-, quadruple-check — who is Trig’s real mom,” Palin said. “And I said, Come on, are you kidding me? We’re gonna answer this? Do you not believe me or my doctor? And they said, No, it’s been quite cryptic the way that my son’s birth has been discussed. And I thought, Okay, more indication of continued problems in the world of journalism.”

Speaking of the Daily News, they yesterday posted an email exchange between Palin and the newspaper that serves as a public response to Palin’s complaints about its coverage. It’s impossible to summarize here, so I’d encourage you to click over; Palin writes that “You’re stripping me of even a shred of faith in your reporting if any of the recent aforementioned strange and untrue reports were taken seriously by the ADN.”

Back to Esquire, where Palin addressed mockery of her comment that one can see Russia from Alaska.

“You have to let it go,” she said. “Even hard news sources, credible news sources — the comment about, you can see Russia from Alaska. You can! You can see Russia from Alaska. Something like that — a factual statement that was taken out of context and mocked — what you have to do is let that go.”

Palin also repeated her complaint that she did not have enough autonomy during the campaign.

“If I were giving advice to myself back on the day my candidacy was announced, I’d say, Tell the campaign that you’ll be callin’ some of the shots,” she said. “Don’t just assume that they know you well enough to make all your decisions for ya. Let them know that you’re the CEO of a state, you’re forty-four years old, you’ve got a lot of great life experience that can be put to good use as a candidate.”